[DB!-Announce] Reading of "Pedaling Revolution" by the Author this Saturday at 3PM

[Davis Bicycles Announcements]

Jeff Mapes, a career Portland Oregonian reporter, has spent the last
couple years visiting America's best bike cities.  He's now published
a book on the rise of bicycling as transportation and as a political
force.  It's 275 pages of information and commentary, including
chapters on Davis CA, Portland OR and NYC.  He'll be in Davis doing a
reading on Saturday.

Jeff was passing through town for Ted Buehler's Feb 2007 "50 Years of
Bicycling in Davis" presentation at The Varsity Theater, and did
interviews with old-timers like Dave Pelz, Tim Bustos, David
Takemoto-Weerts, and others.  Mapes does a good job of telling the
Davis story and putting it in the context of bicycle events happening
elsewhere.

"Pedaling Revolution" is the first review of Davis published since it
is no longer the undisputed "Bicycle Capital of America," with
Portland OR and Boulder CO now sharing the "Platinum" status from the
League of American Bicyclists.

3PM, The Avid Reader (617 2nd St), Saturday April 18th.  (if you're
tired of the Doxey Derbies, head over to The Avid Reader).

A couple reviews at
*
http://www.oregonlive.com/O/index.ssf/2009/03/nonfiction_review_pedaling_rev.html
, and
*
http://bikeportland.org/2009/03/19/a-review-of-jeff-mapes-book-pedaling-revolution/

*********

Jeff also wrote an op-ed piece for The Enterprise, but  our Bicycle Column
schedule was already booked up, so here is an electronic copy:

"I made two separate visits to Davis while I was researching my book,
Pedaling Revolution, and I will forever cherish my first few minutes
on my bike in the city.

"I remember rolling through downtown past the train station and
watching a man – a professor, I later learned – get off the train,
unlock his bike, toss in his briefcase and casually ride away.  I
followed him onto the campus, where the streets were filled with
riders going in every direction, and not a car was in sight.  I
stopped to take in the scene, feeling for the first time in my life
like a medieval warrior who had finally found peace within the walls
of a fairy-tale castle.

"Even in my hometown of Portland, widely acknowledged as the country’s
most bike-friendly large city, I’m accustomed to a certain amount of
conflict on my daily commute to work.  Somebody will blow by in a
pickup a little too close for comfort or a motorist will make an
unexpected right in front of me or…something.

"I’m sure trouble happens in Davis on occasion, too, but I have to tell
you that for a cyclist from afar, it’s worth the trip just to
experience the calm inside the castle walls.

"And, in some ways, that’s precisely what makes Davis important in this
country.   I’ve read the research, talked to the locals and understand
that you have your issues.  But as a living laboratory, I still
haven’t found another city in the U.S. that so vividly demonstrates
how bikes can be a part of everyday transportation while improving the
quality of life.

"In Portland, bikes turned into a big topic of local conversation once
cyclists started becoming 2 or 3 percent of traffic.  Even now – when
8 percent of Portlanders say in an annual city survey that the bike is
their primary means of commute – I think many motorists would recoil
at the image of that bike share doubling to equal a Davis-like number.
 And they could not conceive of how it would work.

"However, Davis has shown that motorists and cyclists, by and large,
can coexist peacefully. Nobody disputes the city’s great livability
and its enviable traffic safety record – for all users.

"I do have a couple of things that I can’t help wondering about,
perhaps because as an outsider I haven’t been steeped in these issues
like you.

"The first, of course, is the ongoing debate over how and whether Davis
is going to accommodate additional population growth.  I know there is
great concern about how additional development – both retail and
residential – will affect the city’s character.  But I can’t help but
feel sad that the great bicycling innovations in Davis can’t be
enjoyed by more people.  For example, most people who live in Woodland
while working at UC Davis won’t even consider commuting by bike
because it’s simply too far.  It makes me wonder, can a city grow with
the right bike infrastructure in a way that won’t leave residents
feeling they’ve lost what they loved about their city?

"Secondly, as great as Davis’ bike ridership is, I can’t help wondering
why there aren’t even more cyclists.  I know this sounds naïve, but I
think cycling in Davis is such a great experience that I can’t imagine
wanting to get around town any other way most of the time.  I guess it
forces me to confront the fact that cycling doesn’t appeal to
everybody, even when it seems from my bike-centric view to be the best
choice.

"I suspect I’ll hear a few words about my impressions when I’m in Davis
on April 18 for my reading.  I will even accept that they’re
ill-conceived, just as long as I get the chance for another magical
two-wheeled spin through your city.

By Jeff Mapes
mapes.jeff at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.davisbicycles.org/pipermail/announce-davisbicycles.org/attachments/20090416/118bc22c/attachment.htm>